Illustrator Symbols

Bryan Krouse

Posted 04 November 2010 - 10:35 AM

Bryan Krouse

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Hi all,
I am looking for a nice, simple set of sport symbols such as disc golf, soccer, lacrosse, skateboarding, etc. for Illustrator. Can someone recommend where I can download such a thing? I would prefer them for free, but would pay a small fee for a nice set.

Greg Corradini

Posted 08 November 2010 - 02:45 PM

Greg Corradini

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Hi all,I am looking for a nice, simple set of sport symbols such as disc golf, soccer, lacrosse, skateboarding, etc. for Illustrator. Can someone recommend where I can download such a thing? I would prefer them for free, but would pay a small fee for a nice set.

Thanks,Bryan

Bryan,There's a gentleman in London who maintains one of the best SVG icon sites on the web. Most of the icons are used in Open Street Map. This is the first place I always go. It's free and since the icons are vectors they are scalable and should be compatible with Illustrator. Not sure if Illustrator reads SVG (it SHOULD!) but if you import the SVG into InkScape, the open source graphics software, then you can export as .ai files. There are plenty of sports related symbols and a pile of others for more things than you can imagine.

However I have to agree with Charles that making your own is much more rewarding. I just made an icon for a map showing the locations for an audio tour (podcast locations), and came-up with the following icon.

Posted 09 November 2010 - 09:05 AM

However I have to agree with Charles that making your own is much more rewarding. I just made an icon for a map showing the locations for an audio tour (podcast locations), and came-up with the following icon.

Greg Corradini

Posted 09 November 2010 - 03:03 PM

Bryan,There's a gentleman in London who maintains one of the best SVG icon sites on the web....

Thanks Matthew for putting up the link to Brian's site. I can't believe I forgot to do that in the post! Doh!

I'd also like to mention to everyone that I've heard Brian is open to icon suggestions -- meaning you should tell him what you'd like to see added to his library. So if you're into Open Street Map and creating your own icons, as Matthew and others pointed out, then maybe you should show Brian what you are working on and influence him. Thus propagating a free and open icon set for future cartographers! Yeah!

Dennis McClendon

Posted 09 November 2010 - 04:14 PM

Dennis McClendon

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While it's fun to design new icons, I feel obligated to remind folks that sometimes the best icon is a word in the language of expected users. I the case of audio tracks, that's known with some certainty. The point is to communicate with readers, not to be clever in visual design. So the words "track 1" probably communicate the idea of an audio track better than a complex symbol that becomes hard to read when only 6 points high.

Charles Syrett

Posted 09 November 2010 - 07:02 PM

Charles Syrett

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Yes, good to remember this. Icons tend to be overdone nowadays, especially now that they're so readily available. In some situations, a default dot will suffice, along with an identifier. In other situations, where the reader may want to quickly find, say, schools, or churches, or whatever, then readily identifiable icons may serve very well. My usual preference is for "positive" icons that allow detail to be seen through them, rather than "negative" icons that block out detail.

While it's fun to design new icons, I feel obligated to remind folks that sometimes the best icon is a word in the language of expected users. I the case of audio tracks, that's known with some certainty. The point is to communicate with readers, not to be clever in visual design. So the words "track 1" probably communicate the idea of an audio track better than a complex symbol that becomes hard to read when only 6 points high.

Dennis McClendon

Posted 10 November 2010 - 02:52 PM

Dennis McClendon

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I like to distinguish between landmarks that I think might be searched by category, and those where categorization is not very useful. So the top row is places that boaters or surfers or golfers might look for by location without knowing the name:

The bottom row is places that you visit based on its individual merit. In my opinion, churches are right on the line; does any map user ever say "where is the nearest place of worship, regardless of denomination?" No, the conceit to label churches and schools dates from military mapping where those types of buildings were distinctive landmarks visible from the countryside or otherwise useful to distinguish.

If I do design icons, as in the top row, I usually try to do them as reverses out of distinctive shapes so they all have the same visual weight on the page, yet are easy to distinguish in low light or at small sizes.

Bryan Krouse

Posted 11 November 2010 - 10:06 AM

Bryan Krouse

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I like to distinguish between landmarks that I think might be searched by category, and those where categorization is not very useful. So the top row is places that boaters or surfers or golfers might look for by location without knowing the name:

The bottom row is places that you visit based on its individual merit. In my opinion, churches are right on the line; does any map user ever say "where is the nearest place of worship, regardless of denomination?" No, the conceit to label churches and schools dates from military mapping where those types of buildings were distinctive landmarks visible from the countryside or otherwise useful to distinguish.

If I do design icons, as in the top row, I usually try to do them as reverses out of distinctive shapes so they all have the same visual weight on the page, yet are easy to distinguish in low light or at small sizes.